Digital Commons Network^™

An Examination Of Sustainability Practices Within Ncaa Division I Athletic Teams, Anna Harder

Masters Theses

According to The United States Environmental Protection Agency, in 1960, 7% of US waste was recycled or diverted – today, that is almost 35%. The minimization and eventual elimination of such products will help with issues such as diversion from these products in everyday life and replacing them with reusable alternatives are what makes a difference. Universities nationwide are beginning to understand the importance of the relationships between sustainability personnel and athletic administrators, which then channels into how collegiate teams practice sustainability. There is still much work to be done regarding the implementation of sustainability practices and procedures in college …

Centrality And Compliance: Unitary Vs. Federalist Political Systems In The Implementation Of The Kyoto Protocol In Argentina And Uruguay, Aidan Homan

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Evaluating Impacts Of Shared E-Scooters From The Lens Of Sustainable Transportation, Nitesh Shah

Doctoral Dissertations

As the popularity of shared micromobility is increasing worldwide, city governments are struggling to regulate and manage these innovative travel technologies that have several benefits, including increasing accessibility, reducing emissions, and providing affordable travel options. This dissertation evaluates the impacts of shared micromobility from the perspective of sustainable transportation to provide recommendations to decision-makers, planners, and engineers for improving these emerging travel technologies.

The dissertation focuses on four core aspects of shared micromobility as follows: 1) Safety: I evaluated police crash reports of motor vehicle involving e-scooter and bicycle crashes using the most recent PBCAT crash typology to provide a …

Effects Of Economic Development Status And Eco-Product On Consumption Values: From The Perspective Of Us Consumers, Mostafa Zaman

Doctoral Dissertations

Consumers select a product based on numerous product characteristics. Numerous studies conducted earlier revealed that consumers in developing countries preferred products made in western or developed countries because their product quality is better than the quality of local products (Lee & Nguyen, 2017; Dao & Heidt, 2018; Rodrigo et al., 2019). Moreover, consumers are increasingly concerned about manufacturers’ environmental issues. Although ethical consumers believe that eco-products could save the environment, some consumers are not concerned about the eco-products and thus select products based on other product attributes (Joshi & Rahman, 2015). Hence, it becomes very challenging for retailers to select …

“What’S Happening?” Assessing The Sustainability Of Virtual Professional Learning Communities On Social Media: A Quantitative Study Of ‘Sense Of Community’, Matthew Hensley

Doctoral Dissertations

While research has highlighted the multifaceted benefits of Twitter as an informal professional learning resource, there remains a lack of literature that adequately teases apart the dynamic underpinnings of these types of informal professional learning communities (Thacker, 2017; Visser et al., 2014). Greenhow & Gleason (2012) posited that there is a need to better understand Twitter’s place within the education profession, as well as “how participants understand their experiences and place within the Twitter community and beyond” (p. 473).

Grounded in ‘sense of community’ theory, this study examined ‘sense of community’ as a construct supporting the #SSChat community’s sustainability. Additionally, …

The Green Gap: How Consumers Value Sustainable Fashion, Alexandra K. Richey

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Coffee Supply Chain Planning Under Climate Change, Rui Zhou

Masters Theses

Coffee is a valuable crop for many tropical countries and provides an export value estimated at US$30.1 billion in 2019 worldwide. Coffee trees are climate sensitive. Published studies show that climate change is projected to have a negative impact on suitable growing areas for coffee beans, so the coffee bean production is facing a rising risk. At the same time, the consumption of coffee is increasing in recent years, especially in Asian countries. Therefore, the sustainability of the coffee industry has become a concern shared by all participants along the coffee supply chains. Decision making in arabica coffee bean cultivation, …

Making Orange Green? A Critical Geographic Approach To Carbon Footprinting Tennessee Football Tourism, Jacob Alexander Cooper

Masters Theses

The idea of the Southeastern United States as a region has long infatuated the popular American imagination. While it is a site of historic and present trauma for some, collective Southern regional identity is constructed as a geographic imagined community of belonging. This place-based identity is expressed in many ways, one of which is through college football fandom. Southeastern Conference (SEC) football has long been associated with the presumed region of the South, and a popular expression of both SEC football fandom and southeastern regional identity is the tourism act of attending college football games. This thesis is a critical …

Hurricanes And The Sounds Of Change: Puerto Rican Environment, Reggaeton, And Boricuaness, Isaiah Edwin Green

Masters Theses

In the summer of 2017, reggaeton took the world by storm, topping popular music charts globally with the song “Despacito” by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee, and leading to a short-lived surge in Puerto Rican tourism. The term boricua holds strong connections to reggaeton and generally expresses a call to indigenous and Spanish heritage. While music videos and the general popularization of reggaeton created an image of Puerto Rico as a desired destination, the conditions of the island’s environment swiftly changed due to the destructive effects of hurricanes Irma and Maria in August and September of 2017. In light of …

Empirical Research To Integrate National Culture In The Design Of Lean Systems, Enrique Macias De Anda

Doctoral Dissertations

The focal point of this dissertation is to find the relevance that cultural difference at a societal level exercise on the design of lean systems as a strategic management practice, from the perspective of production operations involving the shop floor, support activities and management. A conceptual model derived from a thorough literature review provides the theoretical framework of the factors considered to affect the design of the lean practice, considering only human attributes such as individual competence and national culture.The analysis of culture as a determinant factor for the success and sustainability of lean systems has been a topic of …

Rethinking University Operations: Applying Circular Economy Concepts At The University Level, Victoria M. Clements

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Aligning Skills In Personnel With The Lean System's Requirements, Anjushree Bangre

Masters Theses

The sustainability of lean systems for long term is a major concern across various organizations implementing lean manufacturing methods. This issue can be attributed to inadequate infrastructure, inefficient process management, unsuitable personnel management methods and strategic tools. There is a strong need for addressing the risks for lean system sustainability. The resolution of the risks from a 'soft side' (people) perspective has not been addressed. The primary focus of this study is on the people-related risks.

The current study elicits a five-phase approach to enhance the implementation of the lean system by accounting for these risks. The first phase classifies …

Integrating Disparate Nuclear Data Sources For Improved Predictive Maintenance Modeling: Maintenance-Based Prognostics For Long-Term Equipment Operation, Zachary Allen Welz

Doctoral Dissertations

The United States (US) nuclear industry is one of the most heavily regulated businesses in the world, creating a culture of world-class design, operation, and maintenance. In an article published on modern maintenance technologies, Terrence OHanlon (past Chief Asset Manager for Reliabilityweb.com) stated, “world class companies often devote up to 50 percent of their entire maintenance resources to condition based monitoring and the planned work that is required as a result of the findings” [1]. One would expect US nuclear power plants to constantly upgrade, improve, and expand their operations and maintenance departments and tactics. Since the early 1990s, US …

Integral Perspectives, Henry Brian Cheek

Masters Theses

Integral Perspectives is a method to architectural design that encompasses four different approaches. The four approaches, or perspectives, I chose to focus on include: Cultural, Experiential, Performance, and Systems. Designing with each of these perspectives in mind, I intend to create a more holistic and integral design solution. My thesis explores this methodology using the affordable housing crisis in Nashville, TN.

In The News: An Exploration Of Starbucks And The Media, Caitlin Boone

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Effects Of Switchgrass Related Land-Use Changes On Aquatic Macroinvertebrates, Latha Malar Baskaran

Doctoral Dissertations

This research examines if switchgrass-based land-management practices have the potential to influence aquatic macroinvertebrates through changes in stream flow and water quality. The number of taxa in Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera orders (EPT taxa richness/EPT-TR) is analyzed as an aquatic macroinvertebrate bioindicator in the context of regional environmental effects, and changes in stream flow and water quality. This dissertation is structured as three manuscripts that link together to address the overall research question.

The first manuscript focuses on identifying regional environmental variables that influence EPT-TR across ecoregions in Tennessee. The influences of temperature, precipitation, geology, soil, stream flow and velocity …

Creating Competitive Advantage In The Premium Market Segment Through A Sustainability Strategy, Andrew E. Iberg

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Enhancing The Sustainability Of Integrated Biofuel Feedstock Production Systems, Amanda Joy Ashworth

Doctoral Dissertations

As use of second-generation biofuel crops increases, so do questions about sustainability, particularly their potential to affect fossil energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Nitrogen (N)-fixing legumes interseeded into switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) may be an alternative to inorganic fertilizer in forage-feedstock systems. Research herein is divided into four general experiments: I). N replacement and feedstock impacts from legume intercrops and biochar in switchgrass; II). N-fixation rates in intercrop systems; III). impacts of biofuel systems under enhanced climate change; and, IV). projected sustainability of regional switchgrass production. Approaches included: characterization of feedstock/forage quality traits based on legume, biochar and …

The Green Staff Of Asclepius: Envisioning Sustainable Medicine, Jason Lee Fishel

Doctoral Dissertations

To make society sustainable our institutions must also become sustainable. As an institution, health care contributes to environmental degradation. While unsurprising, contributions to environmental degradation increase risk factors for disease and illness, effectively frustrating the goals of medicine. To find ways to make health care sustainable I begin by reviewing the literature on sustainability from within environmental ethics and two previous attempts at envisioning sustainable health care in order to learn what to include in a vision of sustainable health care. Then I examine problems specific to making medicine sustainable by investigating how sustainability might affect the principles of medicine. …

Carbon-Neutral Design Guidelines For Medium Density Urban Areas In Warm-Humid And Cool-Dry Climates, Jennifer Delane Stewart

Masters Theses

This thesis combines Architecture 2030’s carbon-neutral performance targets with the SmartCode transect-based development principles, to generate guidelines for design of medium-density carbon-neutral districts. The topic examines these guidelines in medium density planned and built sites (transect types T4, General Urban Zone, and T5, Urban Center Zone) in representative cities within a cool-dry climate (IECC climate zone 5B, Denver) and a warm-humid climate (IECC climate zone 3A, Atlanta). The thesis assumes that a carbon-neutral district is more effective and potentially easier to achieve than designing independent carbon-neutral urban buildings. Within an urban context, it is now possible to connect buildings to …

Change By Design: A Study In The Potential For Architecture And Design To Encourage Healthy, Conscious Behaviors And Enduring Sustainable Change, Kathleen Michelle Lewis

Masters Theses

Sustainability is more than a technologically based, financially motivated option for living. Instead, it is an invigorating opportunity for creating healthier environments on a mental, physical, and deeply personal scale. The intent of the following study is to inspire long-term sustainable solutions. The foundation for this course of inquiry will be an exploration, analysis, and synthesis into the potential for architecture to engender quality experiences by satisfying basic human needs, instilling environmentally responsible values, and promoting sustainable behavior.

Communities Of Abundance: Sociality, Sustainability, And The Solidarity Economies Of Local Food-Related Business Networks In Knoxville, Tennessee, Tony Nathan Vanwinkle

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation examines the socio-economic and eco-political dimensions of contemporary localist food movements in Knoxville, Tennessee. More specifically, it explores the implications of the mutualistic and networked socio-economies (solidarity and/or community economies) of such movement expressions as they are experienced, embodied, and understood among the small-scale, independent food-related business owners who often serve as the interpellators of such movements. This study is likewise concerned with ways in which movement actors are actively shaping/creating place (via the processes of emplacement), and relatedly, the way place—as an entity possessive of its own accretions of environmental, historical, cultural, economic, and political identities—shapes actors, …

Reverse Logistics Planning: A Strategic Way To Address Environmental Sustainability While Creating A Competitive Advantage, Melissa R. Icenhour

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Breaking The Fast Food Chain: Introducing Urban Agriculture To Foster Healthy Eating Habits In America, Justin Dean Bruno

Masters Theses

Americans today know food well, but few fully understand where it comes from, the processes involved in its production and distribution, or the issues of unequal access to it. It is encouraging to see the presence of healthy food and sustainability as hot topics in our society, but we have not yet given everyone equal access to these benefits. Farmers’ markets, agritourism, and organic farms have begun to inspire a new generation about the advantages of healthy food, but the presence of food deserts haunts urban areas throughout the country. The lack of access to healthy food in the city …

Working With Paul Rudolph To Make Rudolph Work: Reclaiming, Conserving, And Adapting Sarasota High School (1958), Katherine Marie Armstrong

Masters Theses

Sarasota High School, designed by Paul Rudolph in 1958, physically embodies the central ideas of Regional Modernism that developed in Sarasota, Florida in the 1940s and 50s. Covered breezeways, monumental sunshades, deep overhangs, and sliding glass doors promote natural ventilation and sun shading as ways to deal with Florida’s hot climate. As an example of progressive architecture of the time, it is a seminal work of Rudolph’s and significant to Sarasota’s architectural legacy of climatically responsive, modernist buildings that captured international attention.

Sixty years later, Sarasota High School is now unoccupied and in a state of disrepair. The school board …

Forming A Bond: The Reconnection Between Man And Place, Tiffany N Gentry

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Revitalization Through Rehabilitation: Enhancing Communities Through Re-Use, Jason Stuart Pimsler

Masters Theses

The densification of an existing community through the implementation of sustainable design principles, such as adaptive reuse, promotes revitalization. The re-inhabitation of the proposed abandoned structure along the BeltLine can lead to further development of the existing arts complex. As part of this revitalization, linkages established along a citywide master-planned path provide nodal connections between the local art district and the artists of the Goat Farm and educate visitors of the significant industrial history of the area. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the positive impact that sustainable architecture, adaptive reuse and proper planning can have on a …

Communicating Sustainable Design Through Visual Dynamics, Phillip Walter Zawarus

Masters Theses

My thesis is the exploration of dynamic methods to eff ectively visualize and communicate sustainable designpractices. Every site consists of temporal conditions (climate, vegetation growth, hydrology, comfort, aesthetics)that require dynamic representation of it’s progressive state. By understanding both the quantitative and qualitivemeasures of a site’s content, designers can begin to create guidelines and adaptive responses to the changingconditions. Th is can be achieved by fi rst understanding the intergrated relationship of those conditions, as oneelement has a direct or indirect impact on another. Th e design, in turn, cannot be a static implimentation butrather an evolutionary application.

Generation Y And Sustainability, Shelby L. Talbott

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Sustainability Analysis Of Personal Transportation For Near Urban Commuting, Theodore Ansink, Matthew Atchley, Virginia Browning, Yue Cao, Michelle Everett, James Hall Jr, William R. Henson, Eugene Ng, Michael Picklesimer, Justin Ridenour, Scott Teeters, James Wilson

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.